18-wheeler "slip stream"

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MalfunctionProne

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When I was young, my father told me: To save gas, ride right up on the [censored] of a tractor-trailer (18-wheeler) and you would "save gas by being in the slip-stream." Did it for a few seconds, too.

Now.. I know how absolutely and incredibly un-safe that is. So I never have.

But...

Is there anything to that?

Thank you.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Yes it is true. Ever seen drafting in motor racing?


No, I have not seen....

"Drifting" or "Drafting"?
 
Originally Posted By: MalfunctionProne
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Yes it is true. Ever seen drafting in motor racing?


No, I have not seen....

"Drifting" or "Drafting"?


Drafting.
 
Drafting. Have you ever watched NASCAR run at Daytona or Talladega? The commentators talk about it all the time.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: MalfunctionProne
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Yes it is true. Ever seen drafting in motor racing?


No, I have not seen....

"Drifting" or "Drafting"?


Drafting.


Nope, I have not seen drafting!
 
Originally Posted By: MalfunctionProne
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Yes it is true. Ever seen drafting in motor racing?


No, I have not seen....

"Drifting" or "Drafting"?

Drafting in this case. Modern racing is so regulated the different manufacturers might have thier name on the motor, but they are pretty much the same, output-wise. When a racer is trying to overtake another, they will come right up on their butt. The driver in front is pushing the air out of the way so the driver behind accelerates up on them like they have an extra 100HP.
Of course, when they go out to actually pass, they hit that wall of air. However, if its done right they will already be going faster than the driver in front.
Make sense?
 
Last edited:
It's fact but you have to be so close at to almost be touching the trailer. Insanely dangerous.

Slow down, remove weight, have properly inflated tires. That's about all you have control over to make any meaningful contribution to fuel economy.
 
Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
It's fact but you have to be so close at to almost be touching the trailer. Insanely dangerous.

Slow down, remove weight, have properly inflated tires. That's about all you have control over to make any meaningful contribution to fuel economy.

That is not true. At 60-70 mph, even being a 3-4 car lengths back will make a difference. I agree it's dangerous. Back in the 70's, when my Camaro and I were both young, I followed a tractor trailer for many miles closely trying to spare the front of my car from a "love bug" outbreak that Florida was famous for. It worked, yeah I got some dead bugs, but not like other people out in the air. People used to buy screens and attach them to their car to protect their radiator from getting blocked. Those were some serious bug populations, it was crazy.
 
If you've ever been a pedestrian and an 18 wheeler passes you, you'll feel the wind for several seconds. You get a big push then it kinda putts along.

If you draft a truck by two seconds you still save a few percent of MPG. If you feel the car rocking you know you're doing something.
 
Originally Posted By: mcrn
Mythbusters did a show on this http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/28/mythbusters-drafting-10-feet-behind-a-big-rig-will-improve-mile/


thumbsup2.gif


On the NJ Turnpike, in the truck lanes, (when they first start.. 7 or 7A I think, and usually going north,) the Semis like to do 85 to 90MPH. (They do. They fly past me when I was doing 70 or 75MPH.) Anyone that knows the NJ Turnpike "knows how to speed."
 
I use to drive a Festiva on the Interstate back and forth to work. I could feel the drag from a semi slow me down as they got closer to me.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Mythbusters proved it, but you really have to be dangerously close to get the effect.



I agree its not worth the risk plus the risks of rocks being kicked up into your windshield or debris coming from the truck itself sometimes.
 
Cant comment on the fuel savings but I will say back when I had my Vette, out on the highway I could switch over to the digital display of the engine temperature and from about fifty feet or so behind a truck you could watch the temperature increase 4-5 degrees, then move over into a lane that had no traffic and watch the temperature go right back down 4-5 degrees. This was over a span of about a mile. Used to do this to amaze my friends (most werent that amazed).....
 
Originally Posted By: totegoat
Darwin keeps an eye on drafters.


In my misspent youth, when traveling by unfaired motorcycle at night, I found that I could avoid the cold wind by "Drafting" semis. The optimum distance was about 40-50' behind. Closer than that, and the wind came at me from behind.

The buffeting was the least attractive side effect of doing this. But not being in a 70mph 40F blast was worth it, for awhile.

I related this to a friend of mine who had travelled Europe on the cheap, on an old Triumph. He told me he used to ride in the exhaust from the trucks over there.....At the time, many of them had side exhausts. Not good from a dain bramage standpoint, but he was more motivated by warmth than future intelligence.
 
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